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Junior Tracy
First Appearance: September 8th, 1932. Birth name Jack ("Jackie") Steele. The Kid (as he was originally known) was a street urchin with no name who lived under the thumb of his step-father Steve the Tramp. The Kid would steal for Steve and took his abuse with good humor. Because of his lack of education, the Kid had very poor grammer and diction. The Kid first entered Dick Tracy's world when he stole a pocket watch from Pat Patton. Tracy dismissed it because it was a petty crime and did not pursue the matter. When they saw the Kid again, Steve the Tramp was throwing the Kid onto the railroad tracks. Tracy taught Steve a lesson and took the Kid under his wing. Tracy immediately took a shining to the Kid and the Kid himself decided to call himself Dick Tracy Jr. It would later be revealed that he was the son of a blind Colorado silver miner, Hank Steele and his wife Mary. Tracy thought it would be best that the Kid live with his natural father. Of course, Stooge Viller and Steve the Tramp couldn't leave well enough alone. Viller, who was at the same port in Halifax as Pat Patton, the Tramp, and the Steeles, killed the miner for his inheritance that he was going to leave young "Jackie". Tracy became Junior's legal guardian again. Time and time again Junior proved invaluble to Tracy's cause and saw more action tagging along with the detective than the average police officer sees in his entire career. Of course, Junior was also prone to being kidnapped and tortured by various enemies. After the Hank Steele saga came to an end, his ex-wife Mary Steele arrived in the city, eventually revealing that she was the mother of young Jackie/Junior. It was thanks to early villainess Larceny Lu that she would learn the whereabouts of her son. Mary saw Junior's situation and thought that her son would be better off with Tracy, but she couldn't keep herself away. Eventually Tracy confronted Mary after noticing she was "stalking" Junior. She revealed who she was and made Tracy promise not to reveal who she was. Junior eventually deduced that Mary was his mother and the two developed a close relationship, even though Junior remained in Tracy's custody. During one case in 1937, Junior posed as a bellhop to help Tracy investigate a string of hotel murders and nearly got himself killed by the murderer Athnel Jones (no relation to Flattop). In the early 1940s, Steve the Tramp was paroled. Steve had reformed and became a good friend to Junior and Tracy. Junior helped Steve with his new business venture, a fruit stand. Junior was involved in Tracy's apprehension of Tiger Lilly, going undercover as a caddy at Lilly's golf club. It was during this adventure that Junior met Frizzletop and Dennis O’Copper. At the conclusion of this case, Junior was involved in the events that led to the apprehension of Pruneface. Junior founded the Crimestoppers Club, which consisted of him and his friends who aided the police and their community. When Sam Catchem joined the force, Junior and his Crimestoppers found him after he was nearly killed by Sleet and her mother, and later helped identify the villain Pear-Shape. When Blowtop Jones sought revenge on Dick Tracy for the death of his brother, he kidnapped Junior and nearly killed him, but Junior's budding art skills helped lead to Blowtop's capture when he sketched out a picture of his kidnapper. Junior began to age and maturity at an increased pace, growing into his teens. It was Junior who saved both Tess and his newborn sister when he drove her to the hospital after she gave birth in the back seat of a car. Junior soon fell in love with a pretty girl named Model Jones (again, no relation to Flattop) who came from a bad family and was accidentally killed by her criminal brother. This was a terrib le trauma for Junior. Later, Junior met the first great love of his life, a young woman who crashed to Earth from the Moon, Moon Maid. Junior and Moon Maid got married during the height of the strip's Moon Period. Moon Maid would give birth to their daughter Honeymoonwhile in outer space. At some point, Junior attended the police academy and became a police officer. He operates in planclothes, like Tracy, and primarily functions as the official Police Sketch Artist for the Tracy's department. For several years, Junior lived with this as his status quo, as a husband, father, and valued member of Tracy's team on the police force. After an unknown assailant shot Vitamin Flintheart at a TV studio, Junior attacked the shooter and received a concussion. Junior expressed shock at who it was who gave him the hard blow, and revealed that assailant looked very similar to Tracy's long-dead enemy The Brow. This mysterious person turned out to be The Brow's Son, accomplice to Angeltop Jones. After Big Boy issued a million dollar Open Contract on Tracy, Moon Maid was killed by a car bomb meant for Tracy. It had been planted by bomb expert Little Littel. Diet Smith, Tracy and his family (excluding Bonny), Pat, Sam, the Plentys and Lizz were all in attendace the private funeral ceremony for Moon Maid. A grieving Junior vowed to find his wife's murderer. After Junior and Officer Rodriquez (who had been guarding the Tracy home when the bomb was planted and felt responsible for Moon Maid's death) soon found evidence to the identity of the killer. Junior took his .38 Snub nose pistol from his desk and hunted down Littel and his wife at their electronics shop. Junior was nearly crazed with grief and was about to kill the couple, but he could not bring himself to take their lives. Lily Littel threw a bomb at Junior's head, knocking him out and setting off the timer. As they were about to leave, Tracy, Sam and Lizz raided the place intending to arrest the Littels. Junior woke up and was comforted by his comrades. Littel remembered that the bomb was about to go off and told everyone to leave while he tried to defuse it. Littel was killed in the explosion and Lily swore revenge against Junior and Lizz, who had shot Littel in the arm. Junior hoped that the cycle of violence and revenge would not continue. Tracy told Junior that he was going to send Tess to California to stay with Vitamin Flintheart until the Big Boy case was resolved and that he said that Junior and Honey should go with her. Tracy was quick to show his pride in Junior for staying to help on the case and send his daughter with Tess. Junior was able to construct a sketch of The Apparatus' killer Johnny Snow and he produced an enlarged photocopy, altered with the killer's disguise that had been described to him. This aided an eyewitness in identifying him and led to Snow's capture. Following the death of Moon Maid, Junior was hesitant to form a new romantic involvement, thinking that he was bad luck for women. Still, he soon became involved with Sparkle Plenty, who had been enjoying a resurgence in her career as a performer. This briefly earned Junior the animosity of Ownley Chylde, a wealthy fan of Sparkle's who became obsessed with her. When Chylde learned of Sparkle's engagement to Junior, he made several unsuccessful attempts on Junior's life. Chylde was soon apprehended and Sparkle and Junior's wedding plans proceeded. The wedding was well-attended by family, friends, and some of Dick Tracy's former enemies. The ceremony concluded without incident, but the reception was interrupted by the arrival of Lizz, who informed the party that a bomb had been planted in the church basement by a revenge-crazed Angeltop. The party was eveacuated with no casualties and Angeltop was arrested. Junior and Sparkle moved into a home on Maplewood Drive in the suburbs. When the Wheeler family moved into a home on the same street, Junior encourage Honeymoon to make friends with the Wheeler boys (Keenan and Seth), and the kids formed a new version of Junior's Crimestoppers Club. When B.O. Plenty came into some money through the lottery, Junior helped B.O. design what he was going to invest his money in; The Land O' Plenty Theme Park, inspired by the life of Dick Tracy. Junior and Sparkle later gave birth to his second daughter Sparkle Junior (sometimes called Jewel) and she was kidnapped after being born, but with Tracy's help, she was brought back safe. In the early 90's, Junior had gotten back into contact with his step-father Steve due to the insistence of the pastor of the soup kitchen Steve was volunteering for. The pastor explained that Steve had been showing signs of deep guilt and regret of how he abused Junior when he was a kid and all the crimes he had committed. Junior and the Pastor tried their hardest, Junior especially tried to show that that was all in the past and he had long since forgiven Steve. Steve was asked by Junior to help out in a case involving the shelter people, and Steve jumped at the chance. Junior, Sparkle and their daughters were living a happy domestic life, though Junior's involvment as a policeman occasionally attracted unwanted attention from villains. On Halloween of 2011, Sparkle's ex-husband Vera was found to be working at the haunted house of Abner Cavader, where Honeymoon accidentally discovered a dead body posed as a fake skeleton. Junior was also upset when a drunken Vera caused a stir outside his house confronting Sparkle. Junior and his family joined his extended family and friends at Sam Catchem's house for Hannukkah (Jewish festival of lights). After Doubleup's movie about the making of the Scarlet Sting feature film was immediately found on DVD by Honeymoon, Junior went undercover to espose the bootlegging ring. Using a wig and his birthname "Jackie Steele", Junior was surprised to discover that B-B Eyes was still alive and behind the bootleg DVD business. Emulating her father, Honeymoon snuck into B-B Eyes' truck and tracked the bootleggers to their hideout with the help of her Wrist Wizard. B-B Eyes was about to kill Honeymoon when Tracy arrived and rescued her. Junior was relieved that she was alright but reminded her that she is still a child and he doesn't want her involved in dangerous situations. Recently, Junior look a day of leave to mourn for his former wife Moon Maid (whose name was revealed to be "Mysta"). At the same time this was going on, sitings of a crime fighter who was believed to be a disguised Moon Maid were seen on the news and internet. Junior was sure that it wasn't Mysta, as he saw the explosion first-hand. He was also concerned with Honeymoon finding out about the sightings. The biggest blow came when Mysta's gravestone was shattered by the Moon Maid lookalike who seemed to believe that she herself was Moon Maid. His confusion also arose when finding out that this "Moon Maid" was fighting crime just like Mysta had. OTHER MEDIA Movie Continuity In the 1990 film "Dick Tracy", The Kid was portrayed by Charlie Korsmo. His origin story is essentially the same as in the comic strip, though the storyline with Hank and Mary Steele was not addressed. The Kid saved Dick Tracy from a death-trap set by Big Boy, Flattop, and Itchy and was made an honorary detective. The Kid eventually revealed to Tracy that he had chosen the name "Dick Tracy Jr." while Tracy was in jail after being framed for murder. The Kid briefly appears in the comic book prequel to the film, and is also a character in the follow-up novel "Dick Tracy Goes to War" by Max Allan Collins. In the novel, Junior had formed his Crimestoppers Club, and was also working for th war effort, organizing scrap drives and other citizens' actions. His mother, Mary Steele, owned the Coffee Pot diner where she often babysat Junior, though she kept her true identity a secret from him. She would often follow Junior and observe his activities, wanting to be close to the boy. When Junior realized that Tess had gone into the Stage-Door Canteen and not come out, he became suspicious and waited for her. When she finally emerged, Junior approached her, not realizing that it was actually Black Pearl in disguise. After being rebuked by "Tess", Junior was abducted by Mrs. Pruneface and her agents. He was held hostage until Mary, who had witnessed his capture, freed him. The two were discovered in the act of escaping, and Mary held off their attackers while Junior escaped. Mary died in the process, and she asked Tracy not to tell Junior who she was. Trivia *The design of Junior in the early nineties was clearly modeled after current artist Dick Locher's son John, who had died at the age of 25 in the early 1980's. *The "kid sidekick" device was later adopted by the creators of both "Batman" and "Captain America", and they have occasionally credited "Dick Tracy" with inspiring their creations. *Junior's status as a police officer is taken as read based on his actions in the strip. He was not shown attending the police academy and has not appeared in uniform. As of 2012, the creative team considers him a full-fledged member of the police department, with all of the correspending rights and responsibilities. *Korsmo and Dustin Hoffman (who played Mumbles) reunited a year later with Robin Williams in the movie "Hook". *The Kid was one of the more notable characters in the film not to be made into an action figure by Playmates Toys. Known Relatives: *Dick Tracy (Father; via Adoption) *Tess Tracy (Mother; via Adoption) *Richard Tracy Sr. (Grandfather via Adoption, Deceased) *Emil Trueheart (Grandfather via Adoption, Deceased) *Mrs. Trueheart (Grandmother via Adoption) *Gordon Tracy (Uncle; via Adoption) *Henry "Hank" Steele (biological Father, Deceased) *Mary Steele (biological Mother) *Steve the Tramp (Step-Father) *Bonny Braids Tracy (Sister; via Adoption) *Joe Tracy (Brother; via Adoption) *Mysta Tracy aka Moon Maid (First Wife; presumed Deceased) *Moon Governor and his Wife (Former Parents-in-Law) *Honey Tracy (Daughter via Moon Maid) *Sparkle Plenty (Current Wife) *Jewel Tracy (Daughter via Sparkle) *B.O. Plenty (Father-in-Law) *Gravel Gertie (Mother-in-Law) *Numerous Plenty family in-laws Category:Movie Characters Category:Police Officers